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Chaos;Child

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This article is about the video game. For its anime adaptation, see Chaos;Child (anime).
Chaos;Child
Xbox One cover art
Developer(s)5pb.
Publisher(s)5pb.
Composer(s)Takeshi Abo
SeriesScience Adventure
Platform(s)Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows
ReleaseXbox One'PS3, PS4, PS Vita'Microsoft Windows
Genre(s)Visual novel
Mode(s)Single-player

Chaos;Child (Japanese: カオスチャイルド, Hepburn: Kaosu Chairudo, stylized as ChäoS;Child) is a visual novel video game developed by 5pb. It is the fourth main entry in the Science Adventure series, and a sequel to Chaos;Head (2008). It was released in Japan in 2014 for Xbox One, in 2015 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, and in 2016 for Microsoft Windows. An anime adaptation is planned to air in 2017.

Gameplay

The player changes the direction of the plot by choosing to experience positive or negative delusions, or neither.

Chaos;Child is a visual novel, which is split into multiple different story routes. During a first playthrough of the game, the player can only play the main narrative; after finishing the game once, other routes that branch off of the main narrative at different points become available. Each route focuses on one of the game's characters, dealing with character motivations and secrets not revealed in the main narrative.[1]

At multiple points, the player gets the option to choose whether the player character should experience a positive delusion or a negative one; they can also choose neither and stay rooted in reality. These choices change the player character's world view, as well as who he trusts, and are what causes the story to branch into different endings.[1]

Synopsis

Setting and characters

Chaos;Child is set in Shibuya in 2015, six years after an earthquake nearly leveled the area. It follows a group of high school students who survived the earthquake;[1] among them is the player character Takuru Miyashiro,[1][2] who is a senior in high school and president of the school's newspaper club, and whose family died in the earthquake.[1] He is accompanied by his childhood friend Serika Onoe[1][2] and his foster sister Nono Kurusu,[1][3] who are the game's main heroines and romantic leads. Among other characters are the newspaper club members Hana and Shinji; Hinae, an eyewitness to a murder; Uki, who has spent years isolated from the world; and Mio, a misanthrope who has been sent in to aid the police. Several of the characters have superhuman abilities: for instance, one can spot lies with absolute certainty, while another can use pyrokinesis.[1]

Development

The original plan for the game was done by Chiyomaru Shikura, the head of 5pb.,[4] and the music was composed by Takeshi Abo.[5]

Abo used the same technique as for his previous works in the Science Adventure series when creating the music: he started by reading the game's story, to understand the setting and characters as fully as possible, and wrote down his first impressions of the events in the plot, as well as of the plot's emotional flow. He considered these first impressions to be very important, and used them to create a musical worldview. According to Abo, this method takes longer than just designating songs to various areas in the game, but allows him to create higher quality music with a better relationship to the game's worldview. The "image" used for the composition was different than for previous games in the series: while he described Chaos;Head as rainy, Steins;Gate as cloudy, and Robotics;Notes as clear weather, he called Chaos;Child "stormy", and contrasted its "black-and-white" image with Robotics;Notes's "colorful and emotional hues". Because he found the game's story compelling, he enjoyed composing music for it; by the end of the project, he still wanted to compose more Chaos;Child music.[5]

To create subtle differences in the game's atmosphere, four different graphics shaders were implemented.[6] For the Xbox One version of the game, the developers made use of the console's controller to play the in-game phone calls; this and some other features had to be changed when the game was ported to other platforms.[3]

Release

Chaos;Child was originally planned to be released on November 27, 2014 in Japan for the Xbox One, but was delayed,[7] and was released on December 18, 2014.[1] It was later ported to the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, and released on June 25, 2015;[8] additionally, a Microsoft Windows version was released on April 28, 2016.[9] A limited edition of the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions was made available in Japan, which included a drama CD and a "present box" paper craft.[8]

In addition to the game, there is other media based on Chaos;Child. A manga adaption drawn by Relucy is published by Kadokawa in Dengeki G's Magazine.[10] An anime TV adaptation by Silver Link[3] is planned to air in January 2017.[11] A spin-off game, titled Chaos;Child Love Chu Chu!!, is planned to be released in 2017;[12] to coincide with this and the anime, Chaos;Child is planned to receive a budget-priced re-release on March 2, 2017.[13] Additionally, Shikura has said that he wants to make an erotic game based on Chaos;Child and Chaos;Head, targeted at adults.[4]

Reception

The Xbox One and PlayStation 3 versions of the game were unable to reach the Japanese weekly sales charts upon launch;[15][16] the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 versions did, however, selling 10,325 and 4,860 copies, respectively, with the PlayStation Vita version being the ninth best selling game of the week.[17] On the following week, the PlayStation 4 version had dropped off the chart, while the PlayStation Vita version dropped to being the seventeenth best selling game of the week, with 2,556 additional copies sold.[18]

Richard Eisenbeis at Kotaku called the game excellent, and a good addition to the series. He enjoyed the story, calling the mystery "thrilling", and saying that the "disturbing and intriguing" murders were one of the best aspects of it. He also enjoyed the game's character, calling them deep and layered, and said that watching them try to outwit others' powers and using their own to the fullest was another highlight. He liked how the developers had gone "all in" when making the branch routes; the thing he liked the most about them was the consistency of the characters and their motivations between different routes. He found the game to be very long, however, taking him over 70 hours to play through, which he said could be a potential flaw.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Eisenbeis, Richard (2016-01-29). "Chaos;Child is a Murder Mystery with Delusions and Superpowers". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b Spencer (2014-08-11). "Chaos;Child Will Be Ready Shortly After Xbox One Launches In Japan". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b Sherman, Jennifer (2016-06-19). "5pb. Head Wants to Make Erotic Chaos;Head, Chaos;Child Game". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2016-06-20. Retrieved 2016-06-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b Jia, Oliver; Greening, Chris (2015-09-15). "Takeshi Abo Interview: Behind the Science Adventures". VGMO. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2016-06-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Spencer (2015-05-26). "Mages Supporting Xbox One With Chaos;Child". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Romano, Sal (2014-09-24). "Chaos;Child delayed to December in Japan". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b Romano, Sal (2015-03-28). "Chaos;Child PlayStation versions and anime confirmed". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Romano, Sal (2016-01-29). "Chaos;Child for PC launches April 28 in Japan". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Chaos;Child Game Gets Manga Adaptation". Anime News Network. 2015-04-27. Archived from the original on 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2016-06-30. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Chaos Child anime premieres as tv anime in January". Anime News Network. August 1, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  11. ^ "Chaos;Child Visual Novel Gets Love chu-chu!! Spinoff Next Spring". Anime News Network. 2016-09-07. Archived from the original on 2016-09-07. Retrieved 2016-09-07. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "『カオスチャイルド らぶchu☆chu!!』新たなトリガーも搭載されたシリーズ最新作！". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. 2016-11-02. Archived from the original on 2016-11-02. Retrieved 2016-11-02. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Romano, Sal (2014-12-09). "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1358". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Halestorm, Bradly (2014-12-28). "Why Psycho-Pass Localization Could Make Xbox One the Underdog Otaku Console". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Ishaan (2014-12-24). "This Week In Sales: Final Fantasy Explorers Explores Japan". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Ishaan (2015-07-01). "This Week In Sales: Fire Emblem Fates Begins Its Conquest". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ Romano, Sal (2015-07-08). "Media Create Sales: 6/29/15 – 7/5/15". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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